AT&T’s Europe Threat Has Incumbents Weighing Ways to Bulk Up

Europe’s biggest phone companies have put the brakes on a flurry of asset sales as they brace for the likely entry by AT&T into the $313 billion market.

Deutsche Telekom and Orange SA of France, among those evaluating options, have slowed an effort to sell their 50-50 UK wireless venture known as EE, according to people with knowledge of the matter,. To the south, Telefonica SA (TEF) is using a planned exit by its partners in Telecom Italia to seek greater influence in the former monopoly with businesses in Brazil and Argentina. Vodafone Group’s $130 billion agreement this month to exit its US venture with Verizon Communications has made the UK mobile-phone company a potential takeover candidate for AT&T. A new owner of Vodafone, with more than 140 million customers in 14 European countries including Germany, the UK and Spain, would instantly become the region’s biggest mobile carrier and may trigger a series of mergers and acquisitions.